Bristol II: Travis Kvapil preview

KVAPIL READY FOR THE ELECTRICITY AT BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Aug. 23, 2005) - Travis Kvapil, driver of the No. 77
Kodak Dodge Charger, has never competed at Bristol Motor Speedway under
the lights but he is about to experience...

KVAPIL READY FOR THE ELECTRICITY AT BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Aug. 23, 2005) - Travis Kvapil, driver of the No. 77
Kodak Dodge Charger, has never competed at Bristol Motor Speedway under
the lights but he is about to experience Thunder Valley at its finest
when he returns to the 0.533-mile oval where he scored his NASCAR NEXTEL
Cup Series career high finish of fifth earlier this year.

Kvapil, a 29-year old Janesville, Wis., native has been looking forward
to returning to some of the tracks the Cup Series visited earlier this
year. Bristol, however, has been on top of his list since the Food City
500 back in April.

To prepare for its return to the Tennessee mountains, the Kodak Racing
team tested at Kentucky Speedway on Aug. 16 and BMS on Aug. 17.

At Bristol, the team tested into the night and Kvapil received a small
taste of the electricity he hears about from other Cup drivers.

"Bristol under the lights is... Well, it's something else." Kvapil said.
"I thought driving it in the daylight was incredible, but there is
definitely a whole other energy under the lights.

"It's kind of funny, but I would go out and run a couple of laps and
Shane [Wilson, crew chief] would bring me in to talk about the car. I
think I needed to come in so I could breathe. That is something I will
have to get used to, breathing while driving. It's not overrated."

While Kvapil hopes to rekindle the fire he found at Bristol in the
Spring, he hopes it carries on long past the weekend.

"Notes are not easy to come by," Kvapil said. "Shane has worked hard to
figure out the new Dodge and I think I have driven as hard as I can. It
is nice to know we are able to go to some of these tracks with a basic
setup, not a shot-in-the-dark.

"I thought having notes would help us last week at Michigan but we
struggled up until the race. Shane and the guys tuned on the [No. 77
Kodak Dodge Charger] during the race and it looked like the weekend was
going to end up alright."

Kvapil had to take a provisional starting position for the GFS
Marketplace 400. He started from the 41st position. During the race,
Kvapil moved as high up in the field as 14th but after wrecking with
Stuart Kirby on lap 142, the Kodak Dodge needed repairs and Wilson
informed the team it was time to put the car away.

"I had raced Kirby all day so I thought I would be OK driving in there,"
Kvapil said. "Unfortunately, his car cut a tire and he ran me into the
wall. There was nothing he could do."

"In the end, I wanted to get the car fixed and get back out on the
track," Wilson said. "NASCAR was really good to me. They gave us plenty
of time to figure out where the smoke was coming from. We tried in the
pits and then eventually in the garage.

"My decision came down to how I would want another crew chief to handle
the situation. I didn't want to negatively affect the outcome of the
race for the guys who ran well all weekend and were in contention to
win. When there are no positions to gain by going back on the track it
is a matter of safety. I made the call I would expect another to make."

Heading into the Sharpie 500, Kvapil understands the competition is
tough and he wants more now than ever to perform well. While he wants to
push the limits to find the edge, he also wants to run smart and learn
the tracks to prepare for next year.

"As a driver, I never give up on the season I am in," Kvapil said. "You
get to the point though where you have to look ahead and start making
the best of it for the future. Right now, we are staring 35th place in
the face and that is a hard pill to swallow. I never thought we would be
this far back in the points."

This year, everyone running in the top 35 in points is guaranteed a
starting position. From 36th on back, the drivers must make the race on
speed alone with provisions for past winners or series champions.

If Kvapil and the Kodak team could turn things around and earn their
first victory this weekend, it would not be the first time Kodak has
visited victory lane at BMS. Ernie Irvan drove the Kodak car across the
finish line first back on Aug. 25, 1990 for Morgan-McClure Motorsports.
It was Irvan's first career victory. He beat Kvapil's teammate, Rusty
Wallace, to the finish line by 21 seconds.

"I don't know what the situation was for Ernie at that time, but I would
love nothing more than to be the second Kodak driver to get their first
win at Bristol Motor Speedway," Kvapil said.

NEWS OF NOTE

Equipment: Primary - PRS-034

The Kodak Racing team is taking PRS-034 to Bristol Motor Speedway.
PRS-034 is the same car Kvapil drove to his fifth-place finish in the
Food City 500 back in April. It is also the same car that carried the
gold Kodak paint scheme during the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series season
finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November 2004 (St. 17th/Fin. 6th).
The team acquired PRS-034 from Rusty Wallace's Miller Lite Racing team
late in the 2004 season.